Dusseldorf - Posh designer sofas are not the only alternative when it comes to freshening up your home.

Instead of heading to the nearest furniture store, consider a trip to a flea market, a place where treasures are waiting to be discovered.

"The appeal of furniture and accessories from a flea market is that the items have a story to tell," said interior decorator Annika Egner of Karlsruhe. Whenever Egner is assigned to furnish private homes for Room Doctor, a network of German interior decorators, she reverts to old furnishings first.

Sydney - Sydney lawyer Brett Solomon has heaps of clout in Australian politics.

In July, when the pope visited Australia, he frightened Catholic leaders by threatening to mobilize his 280,000 followers in protests over the new police powers voted through to protect the pontiff.

"It's important at times like this that our organization stands up for what's right," Solomon said, adding, "I think that we need to be vigilant about our civil liberties."

Solomon, 38, is not the head of a political party but the leader of GetUp!

Friedrichshafen, Germany - The makers

Freiburg, Germany - GHB has been dubbed "liquid ecstasy," a misleading name if ever there was one. Short for gamma hydroxybutyrate, GHB is chemically unrelated to its fellow club drug Ecstasy.

Sydney - It's lunchtime in Sydney and there are more fitness-conscious office workers in the pool doing laps than there are in the park doing circuits in their running shoes.